Chains of Love
by HungerJackson
Summary: AU. After twenty-one years of leading a normal life, Annabeth discovers she has to marry an unknown guy thanks to her father. She's already in love with someone else and doesn't want to do it. But as she spends time with this unknown guy she realizes that the owner of her heart is probably someone else. However, it might be too late to realize that.


_Prologue_

_Fifteen years before..._

Frederick woke up with a start, beads of sweat trickling down his face. All of his body trembled, and for an unknown reason his butt ached. Still shaking, he reached to the pocket of his button-down shirt, where his broken glasses rested. A large piece of scotch tape joined the broken pieces.

His eyes adjusted to the white light until he recognized where he was: the hospital. Relief washed over his body, muscles relaxing. He'd only fallen asleep in a very uncomfortable chair and he'd had a horrible nightmare. That was all. Nothing of what he'd seen was real and Annabeth was alive.

Feeling much better, Frederick threw his head back to stare at the ceiling. A moment later, someone took the seat next to him. It was unnecessary to turn around because he already knew who it was. "Is everything okay?" asked Athena, filling the spaces between his fingers with hers.

He squeezed her hand and nodded. "Yeah, I just had a nightmare," he responded. "It was horrible. I dreamed that Annabeth died…because of me." This time Frederick turned to stare at his wife. She was shaking her head disapprovingly, the answer he had expected.

"How many times do we have to talk about _this_?" Athena said, pulling her hand back. Crossing her arms upon her chest, she continued shooting angry stares at him. "The accident wasn't _your_ fault. The other car hit ours. That's what happened, so stop blaming yourself or tonight you'll sleep in the garage with the cat."

Frederick couldn't help smiling. Athena was quite amusing even when she was scolding him. But the smile vanished quickly as the nightmare flashed in his mind. "I'm sorry, sweetheart, but I can't help feeling guilty. If I had thought faster maybe Annabeth wouldn't be here. She would be at home, safe. We wouldn't have to worry about anything. We wouldn't have to pay the expensive surgery. If I had thought faster everything would be okay."

His dialogue was enough to make Athena's mad expression disappear. The dark-haired woman sighed, getting close to Frederick again. She leaned her head against his shoulder and caressed him. "I know you're worried about the money, Frederick, but don't think about that now. We'll find a way to pay every single cent and everything will be fine. Even if I have to sell all my things. Okay?"

"Okay." He nodded. Letting out a sigh, he offered his hand to Athena. "I think we should go check if the surgery is over."

"It's over," she called back. "It ended hours ago. You slept all night long. Annabeth is sleeping now, do you want to visit her?"

"If she's resting, no. She had a very complicated night and deserves to rest. I'll just wait here until she wakes up."

"Alright, I'll go back to the room. I just came to check on you. I promised Annabeth I wouldn't leave her alone." She pressed a kiss against her husband's lips. "Will you be okay without me here?"

"I promise I'll make an effort to survive," he answered. After giving him one last kiss, Athena set off towards the rooms in search of their daughter. Frederick remained in his seat, his mind going back to the accident and the dream. Both had been horrible moments, they would be hard to erase.

Once more, someone took the seat next to him, but he knew it wasn't Athena. The person was taller, broader, like a man. The last time he'd checked his wife had been a woman. "I'm sorry for doing it, but I kind of overheard your conversation with your wife," the man said.

Frederick turned to stare at him. The guy was about his age. He was tall and had the darkest hair Frederick had ever seen. "It's okay," he said, leaning back with arms crossed. "Our family doesn't have secrets. Besides, when someone overhears your conversation in movies it means you'll get some help, and that's what our family needs in this moment."

"Economic problems, huh?"

"Don't remind me about them."

"How old is your daughter?" the man asked. Frederick stared at his green eyes intently, trying to find malice in them. Why would a man of _his_ age (not that he was a grandpa) ask about Annabeth? But the guy looked trustworthy, and he even seemed familiar.

"Six," Frederick responded.

"Just like my son." The guy nodded. "Oh, sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Poseidon Jackson."

"Frederick Chase. Now it's your turn to answer me something," Frederick said, still trying to figure out where he'd seen this man. "Have we met before? You look familiar, and I'm pretty sure I've heard that name before."

"Not that I remember. And I don't get drunk very often," Poseidon responded with a grin. "You've probably heard of me somewhere. I'm an investigator. I work along other investigators to explore the sea. Did you know that only ten percent of the sea has been explored?" Poseidon had the appearance of someone who enjoyed his job, because his eyes shone even more as he talked about the sea.

"All of that sounds very interesting," Frederick said, interrupting Poseidon. "But right now I'm not in the mood to talk about anything. I have a lot of things to worry about. My daughter, money, the car, the house. I'm sorry, but right now I would _really_ like to be alone."

"Oh, excuse me. I forgot the reason I'm here." Poseidon's excitement disappeared, a serious expression settling on his face. "I kind of overheard your conversation and I know you need money. And I'm here because I can help you with that."

Frederick glanced at Poseidon with eyes wide open. What happened in movies was true. But then his surprise vanished, because he remembered something else. In movies, when someone offers you help, that person always expects something back. His eyes narrowed as he talked. "What do you want?"

"What?" Poseidon asked, looking surprised about the question.

"Come on." Frederick narrowed his eyes even more. "_No one_ gets close just to give you free money. What do you expect back?"

Poseidon crossed his arms as well. "Okay, I'll tell you. As I listened to your conversation I noticed that you're a good guy. You worry about your family and even blame yourself for things you didn't do. Your wife seemed like a great person too and she was really beautiful. That speaks well about your family. And with parents like you two, your daughter must the same or even better."

"_What_ do you want?" Frederick repeated.

There was a moment of silence. Finally, Poseidon said: "I want someone like you two, someone with a good heart. For my son."

* * *

><p><span>Author's Note:<span> Okay, as you noticed, this is a new story. It's been in my head for a while (since my best friend told me she likes stories of forced marriage) but I hadn't written it _because_ I had other stories. Why did I decide to write it now if the other stories are still incomplete? Because I realized that my inspiration for them is gone. The lack of writing during my first semester at college made it go away. (If you follow Alive or Letting Go you're free to send me ideas to continue them because I'm stuck. Like, _very_ stuck. Like Sokka in the chapter when Aang learns earthbending).

I seriously thought I would stop writing because I couldn't write anything, then I discovered the inspiration for the other stories was gone, because I _really_ enjoyed writing this. So, here it is. I hope you like it and leave a review :D. I'll try not to get stuck here, too.

For those who are reading my other stories: as I said, you're free to send me ideas, because I can't write anything about them. I _swear_ I have tried writing, but it doesn't work. I've looked for inspiration everywhere: books, music, movies, TV shows (thanks to that and my brother I'm currently obsessed with Teen Wolf). But nothing.

That's all I have to say. And thank you for reading!


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